Modern vehicles frequently provide wireless connections with wireless devices carried by vehicle occupants. When a vehicle occupant enters a vehicle with a wireless device, the vehicle can establish a short-range wireless communication link with the device. The short-range wireless communication link can allow the wireless device to communicate with and/or through the vehicle. These short-range wireless links are often created by authenticating the vehicle providing the wireless link, the wireless device accessing it, or both. In one example, the vehicle occupant can identify the vehicle broadcasting a short-range wireless link using the wireless device and select the vehicle identity. Also, the wireless device can be authenticated to the vehicle when the wireless device provides a password to gain access to the wireless link or network provided by the vehicle.
After these types of authentication occur, the vehicle occupant may not have to re-authenticate the wireless device with the vehicle again as the vehicle and wireless device can recognize each other when they come within a particular range. However, vehicle occupants may not exclusively use one vehicle. In that case, each new vehicle the vehicle occupant enters may ask to authenticate each wireless device in order to establish access to the short-range wireless link. Thus, it would be helpful for vehicle occupants to be able to enter new vehicles without re-authenticating wireless devices yet also maintain wireless security at the vehicle.